Mortising guide



Patented Aug. 1%, 1947 UNHED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a mortising guide.

useful in setting lock hardware and, more particularly, in the setting of latch plates in a door frame.

It is important that the lock mechanism usually mounted in a door edge and the latch platev mounted in relative position in the door frame be properly positioned to insure fully satisfactory latching of the door in the closed position. Little difhculty is experienced in setting the lock in the door edge since the carpenter or cabinet maker usually performs that operation first and has only the factor of proper placement on the door to consider. However the setting of the latch presents difiiculties since it must be properly located in the frame with respect to the previously set lock, and, at the same time, with respect to the elements of the frame including the door stop. Thus two factors have to at all times be considered and the problem which appears relatively simple to solve is in reality one of the most complex encountered in house finishing or cabinet work and is one that requires the utmost of skill in order that a fully satisfactory job can be produced. Failure to meet the requirements and the consequent production of a less than sat isfactory job results in constant irritation as long as the condition is unremedied or requires protracted adjustment and tinkering befor the condition can be corrected.

Such attempts as I have been able to discover of mechanisms intended to be useful for the purposes of my invention have been unduly complicated and therefore too expensive or have been formed without sufiicient attention being paid to the problem in all its phases and must be disregarded as without actual utility.

I have in mind the defects of the prior art when I state that an important object of my invention is the provision of a mortising guide that is easily attached for use and may not accidentally be dislodged during use.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a mortising guide of the type described, a clamping element which is readily adaptable to secure the guide in place in a variety of different situations.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision, in a guid of the type described, of means whereby the device may be easilyadjusted or shifted to accommodate any of several types of door frames.

The foregoing objects and others ancillary thereto I prefer to accomplish as follows:

In the pr ferred embodiment of my invention here shown, I provide a guide plate having an opening that serves as guide for a mortising tool and which plate is, in use placed on the face of a door frame member being mortised. An, arm extends from the base plate, in this instance, in an offset plane from that of th plate. This arm is attached to clamping means that is engageable to the door frame by clamping the door stop runnin up the frame. The clamping means is adjustable to accommodate the several sizes and shapes of door stops commonly used. In certain cases the offset arm is secured to the clamp in immovable fashion while in other cases is secured by means that will permit ready adjustment and, for that purpose guide bars form a channel in which the arms may be slid. Spanning this channel is a link that is pivoted to the base member as well as to the arm in the channel. The freely swingableend of this link is associated with means for securing it in any of the various positions to which it might be swung. For this purpose I use, specifically, in a slot in the link a pin having a thumb nut threaded thereon. The limits of the slot govern the scope of movement of the slidable arm of th guide plate. When the device is in use the operator inserts his mortising tool, usually a chisel, through the guide opening of the guide plate and cuts the wood of the frame in the manner there delineated.

The novel features that I consider characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims, The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, Will best be understood from the following description of aspecific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top view of my mortisin guide in place on a door frame shown in section,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the mortising guide,

Figure 3 is a detail of the fixed jaw of the guide.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the plane indicated by lines 33 of Figure 2, and

Figure 5 is a .face view of the guide plate and its opening with size reducing inserts placed therein.

A mortisingguide to overcomethe defects hereinbefore enumerated must have at least two totally distinct characteristics; it must be capable of being used with a wide range of types of door frames and their stops; and it must also provide an accurate guide for a mortising operation that end and a presser plate 22 on its inner end for movement toward or away from the plane of the jaws l2, l2.

It is important that the elements of this clamp be rigid and sturdy so as not to distort or rack during use as when the device is attached to a door stop member 24 of a door frame 26. 'To assist in the attachment of the clamp to the wood door stop I provide a born or tooth '28 on the inner face, of each jaw I2. Thus, when the clamp is in place, the horn 28 is forced into the fiber of the wooden door stop a slight amount but not in disfiguring manner, and shifting or dislodging of the clamp is precluded short of total destruction of the door stop.

Guide plate extends from the clamp to lie on the face of the frame member to be mortised and is there supported by means of the offset arm 32 that is attached to base Ill. As can be seen in Figure 2, a pair of rails 34, 34 of base I form an open faced channel in which the arm 32 may slide. Between one edge of arm 32 and one of the rails 34 reference and scale marks as 36 are placed to give ready indicia of the general arran gement of the guide plate with reference to the clamp.

A swingable link 38 is fixedly pivoted on pin 40 and has a slot 42 on the free end to permit that end to swing with relation to bolt 44. A thumb nut 46 serves to secure the link 38 in any of its various positions of swing. The arm 32, lying as it does in the channel and under link 38 is pivotally secured to the latter by pin 48. It can thus be seen that when the link 38 is swung the guide plate 30 carried by arm 32 is moved away from or toward the door stop to which the device is clamped.

Guide'plate 30 has an opening 52 through which the mortising operation is conducted and the shape of this opening is substantially that of the latch plate 50 that is later to be placed in the mortised area. Naturally no one opening will accommodate all the various sizes of latch plates but one can easily be accommodated to other sizes since most are of the same general outline. In Figure I illustrate a manner of limiting the size of the guiding opening in which case L-shaped inserts 54, 54 are placed in the upper and lower extremities of the opening and a correspondingly smaller opening is then defined into which a latch plate 5| may be inserted. The inserts are held in place by screws.

Mode of operation the stop to place the latch slot 5| of the latch plate for the reception of the lock latch member.

On the other hand, if a latch plate for a relatively thick door is to be placed and the latch plate in that case must be set relatively farther from the door stop the guide plate is shifted away from the stop the proper distance and there locked by tightening of the nut 46 on bolt 44 whereby the swinging arm becomes immovably attached to the base In and the arm 32 also there secured.

The operator, in mortising through the guide plate, inserts his chisel through the opening along the edges thereof to score the wood to the proper depth. He then cuts out that portion that is exposed and removes the guide whereupon he may immediately place the latch plate and, if his original calculations as to height were correct, it will be found that the door is properly latched.

The gage marks 36 are particularly useful in setting the latch plates for a door that is bowed from top to bottom along the edge that has the lock, in which case the lock may set out from the stop a small amount at that point. In such an instance the installer determines the amount of bow to the door and sets his guide plate out from the base member the proper amount takin his allowance for bow by reference to gage marks 36 in the manner illustrated in Figure 2.

Although I have shown and described a certain specific embodiment of my invention I am fully aware that many modifications thereof are possible.

I claim:

1. For door frames of the type having, lying alongside the frame surface to be mortised, a stop member for a door or the like, said stop member including opposed faces standing out from the surface to be mortised; a mortising guide, comprising: a C-clamp including a frame portion having a clamping member on one end and a pair of clamping members on the other end, said clampin members being spaced apart and lying on each side of an axis passing through said first mentioned clamping member, said frame portion being cut away between said spaced apart clamping members, said frame portion having a groove extending in line with the axis of said first mentioned clamping member, an arm slidable in said groove, a swingable link pivoted to said frame portion, and having connection with said slidable arm and including a slot overlyin a portion of said frame portion, means carried by said frame portion and operable in said slot to clamp said link in adjusted position to said frame portion, and means carried by said arm to serve as a guide for a mortising operation and disposable between said spaced apart clamping members in the cut-away part of said frame portion.

2. For door frames of the type having, lying alongside the frame surface to be mortised, a stop member for a door or the like, said stop member including opposed faces standing out from the surface to be mortised; a mortising guide, comprising: a C-clamp to be secured to said stop and having clamping members engageable with said opposed faces and a grooved frame portion extending between said clamping members, the groove extending in line between the clamping members, an arm slidable in said groove, a swinging link pivoted to said frame portion of the C-clamp and having connection with said slidable arm to move the same, means to clamp said link in adjusted position to said frame, and means carried by said arm to serve UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Boese et a1 Mar. 1, 1927 Frazier Feb. 12, 1895 Harling Oct. 16, 1900 Nicholls Oct. 4, 1910 Monette et a1 Apr. 25, 1911 Huber Jan. 16, 1906 

